Chapter 3 Lizzie
LIZZIE
I couldn’t help but stare around the room while he stuck me with needles and poked at my aching bruises. I did my best not to flinch. After all, I had my pride as a soldier.
Sort of.
Fucking hell, I was going to be court-martialed for being AWOL for so long.
Did I even have proof that I could show my superiors?
“Are we taking pictures of my wounds and stuff?” I asked.
When Doc didn’t immediately respond, I turned my gaze down to him and found him paused while drawing blood.
“Would you like to take pictures, Miss Elizabeth?”
I blinked. “Just figured we’d want to catalogue the injuries for the DOJ, or whatever.”
His eyes searched my face. “I can go get a camera and catalogue, if you’d like me to.”
I just nodded and went back to staring around the room.
Of course, in this big ol’ mansion of his that apparently nobody knew about, he had a gorgeous medical setup.
The room was sterile, and complete with all sorts of machinery that looked foreign to me.
He slipped the needle out of the crook of my elbow with a soft ‘done,’ and his little wheely stool squeaked as he rolled to and from across the tiled flooring of the room.
“Do you perform surgeries in here, too?” I asked.
“Got a separate room for that.”
Of course, he does.
I didn’t know what to do with all of the anger rushing inside of me.
I was angry at how things turned out. Angry at what was done to me.
Ultra-angry at what was done to Em. Angry that I was AWOL and going to lose my career over some bullshit I couldn’t control.
Angry that this house was so damned big and it took me forever just to make one round in it.
My lungs were a goddamn embarrassment.
I hated the marks those men had left on me.
Just about the only thing I didn’t hate was how big this house was. I mean, sure, it sucked to walk. But at least I didn’t have to hear the sounds of everyone fucking all the time.
Especially Em.
I mean, I loved her and everything, but that didn’t mean I wanted to know what she sounded like slobbing on someone’s knob.
“Like corn on the cob,” I muttered to myself as I bounced my head a bit. “Check in with me. And do your job.”
“You a fan of Three Six Mafia?”
My head whipped toward him. “Huh?”
“Three Six Mafia. The song you’re humming. Are you a fan?”
I blinked. “Are you a fan?”
He just shook his head. “One of my bunkmates back in the military was a big fan. I know pretty much all their songs.”
“Huh.”
He rolled back over to me with a camera in hand. “All right, Miss Elizabeth. Where do you want me to start documenting?”
“My back,” I said as I gripped the edge of the table and hopped down.
Pain immediately ricocheted up to my knees. My ankles gave way, wobbling the instant my body weight slammed down onto them.
“Oh shit,” I whimpered out as my arms flailed.
A pair of long, strong arms wrapped around me.
“You’re okay,” Doc said as he helped steady me onto my feet, “let me know when you’re steady.”
His warmth pulled the breath from my lungs. My head touched down right in the slat of his chest, and I heard his heart beating.
I wanted to close my eyes and enjoy the sound.
“I’m good,” I muttered.
His arms didn’t move. “Are you sure, Miss Elizabeth?”
It took me a moment before I responded. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
His arms loosened around me. “You need to be more careful. That isn’t a suggestion. I’m not always going to be around to catch you.”
I scoffed. Of course, I’d get stuck with some asshole who wanted to snap at me instead of hold me.
He’d be good at holding, if that was what he wanted to do.
I shoved him until I stumbled away. “Just start taking pictures. I’m going to need proof to show my commanding officer.”
“You know that Cap and—”
“Take the damn pictures, Doc.”
I heard him click his tongue before the directives began. “Turn around and slip off your shirt. We’ll do your torso and bust first.”
I did as he asked, and then I just closed my eyes.
I didn’t want to look at him. I didn’t want to see him.
I didn’t want anything to do with him. I heard the camera shuttering.
I heard Doc mumbling things to himself. His fingertips moved my hair out of the way as he rounded around on the ligature marks of my neck.
My body had no business reacting the way it did to the heat of him.
We slipped my shirt back on before my pants slid off, and he took pictures of my legs. Of the bruising that sliced up my calves. The scrapes and scratches at my ankles, and how swollen and bruised they were also before something started dinging out.
“That’s your bloodwork,” Doc said.
“We done with pictures?” I asked.
“Yes, Miss Elizabeth. Just be careful getting back into your clothes.”
“I’m fine,” I muttered as I looked around, reaching for my shirt.
“You’re not fine.”
“Then tell me what my tests say.”
His silence told me everything as I slid my clothes back on and turned to face him. “Well?”
His jaw ticked. He had his back to me. “You should still be resting.”
“I take it my bloodwork is normal.”
He spun around on his stool. “Just because your heart rate has come back down to normal, and just because you’re back on a regular eating schedule, and just because you don’t have an infection doesn’t mean you don’t need rest, Elizabeth.”
I didn’t like his icy tone of voice. “Well at least you dropped the annoying ‘Miss’ part before it.”
He slowly stood from his stool.
It made me take a step back.
About halfway into the air, he paused, almost like he just became aware of how much he towered over me.
He sighed as he eased himself back down onto his stool. “Just go back to your room and get some sleep, Miss Elizabeth.”
I stared at him. “You’re saying that nickname to piss me off, aren’t you?”
Those stormy eyes of his locked with mine. “I would never intentionally do anything to upset you.”
I thought back to how Ranger scooped Marla up and swung her around. How he seemed so happy to see her. How she seemed equally as happy to see him.
I wondered if I’d ever have something like that in my life.
“Thanks for the check-up, Doc,” I said as I turned and headed for the door.
At first, he didn’t answer me, and I figured I pissed him off.
Whatever. At least I wouldn’t be the only one angry now.
We had been in this estate for about a week or so, give or take, and it felt like everyone was on cloud nine while I stewed in the bowels of hell with my bruises and my memories and my need to get back to my life.
Is this how Marla felt all that time?
My eyes watered over with tears before I even realized Doc followed me.
“What is it, Miss Elizabeth?”
I gasped at the pressure on my shoulder as he got in front of me. He crouched down, his hands on his knees, staring into my eyes like he physically counted the tears daring to soak them.
I furrowed my brow and looked around. “Where the hell did you come from?”
He tilted his head, and that brow of his pinched itself together. “I left the office with you. Did you not hear me?”
I didn’t want to answer that question, but Doc was intelligent. I knew my non-answer was an answer enough.
“Come,” he said as he reared back up and ushered his hand out, “I’ll escort you to your room. It’s the least that I can do.”
I wanted to tell him no. I wanted to tell him that I was fine. I wanted to spit in his face and kiss his lips.
I didn’t understand anything any longer.
“I’m fine,” I muttered as I turned and made my way to the stairs.
“I’m sure you are,” Doc said as he fell in line beside me.
I thought about how Em had to help me down the stairs this morning.
Maybe it wasn’t a good idea, picking a room where I had to hike steps to get up and down.
I didn’t want to be on the lower levels, though.
Too many windows, not enough perch points, and way too many entry points for me to guard by myself.
Especially with the condition my body was in.
Still, when we came to the steps, they seemed to stretch on forever.
I grabbed the banister and picked up my foot. “Maybe I should just put my room downstairs.”
Doc wasted no time in his rebuttal. “If something were to happen, I don’t want anyone infiltrating to have easy access to you guys.”
I paused and peered at him over my shoulder. “You think someone’s going to infiltrate?”
We stood there, eye to eye, and I was painfully aware of the fact that I was already up three steps while he still stood on the ground level floor. Fucking hell, this man was tall. I could still kick his string bean ass from here to Sunday. But he really did cast a shadow, so to speak.
I was painfully aware of the fact that my breathing was damn near audible.
“One should always be prepared for contingencies, Miss Elizabeth,” Doc finally said, breaking the silence between the two of us.
I leaned against the banister and grimaced as I pulled myself up a step. “Then install an elevator.”
“Get those fucking things away from me.”
The booming voice made me flinch so hard that I stumbled backward. I felt myself falling off the step before a pair of arms slid underneath mine.
“You’re okay,” Doc whispered. “That’s just Brutus.”
“Ooooh, come ooon,” I heard Anna say as I got turned around enough to see what in the fuck was going on.
“I’m serious, Anna,” the booming voice that I realized was Brutus said as he rounded the corner. “You’re gonna make me puke.”
“Awww,” Anna said as she trailed behind him, carrying the largest jar of pickles I’d ever seen in my life. She chomped down onto one as she scurried after the man.
“What?” she asked. “Is the big, bad wolf afraid of some itty, bitty pickles?”
“Get away from me,” Brutus growled as he stomped away from her.
“Come oooon,” Anna said as she rushed in front of him, like a bunny trying to trip up a werewolf. “Just one bite. These are bread and butter pickles. A bit of sweet. A bit of salty.”
“I will throw up on you,” he growled as he stopped and stared down at her.
Anna just smiled up at him as she crunched into the pickle once more. “Promise?”
“You’re so fucking gross,” Brutus muttered as he stormed away.
“Wait for me!” Anna exclaimed. “We’ve got pickled onions, too, if cucumbers don’t suit your fancy!”
I looked up at Doc and I found him smiling.
Fondly. His eyes tracked the two of them, and I stared up at him for so long that I saw Anna’s trailing reflection in his metallic eyes.
I looked back at Anna, only to watch her disappear around the corner with a grumbling Brutus trying to get away from her.
And when I looked back at Doc, he still had that dopey little lopsided smile on his face.
My military training kicked into gear before I knew what hit me.
I slipped away from his presence, and he just…
stood there. Like he was in a trance. Anna’s laughter kicked up, and I actually watched the peaks of his cheek twitch.
Man, he had it bad for that woman, that much was for certain.
I stayed completely silent as I used the banister to hoist myself up the stairs.
I looked back every once in a while, wondering if Doc even realized I wasn’t there any longer.
He didn’t even look up at me.
That hurt more than I cared to admit.
You’ve got bigger fish to fry. You have to find a way to get in touch with your lieutenant.
I limped down the hallway, heading toward the first one that jutted off to the left.
With Doc nowhere in sight.